Joshua ISD Apologizes to Valedictorian

Ben Russell, NBC 5 News

Joshua Independent School District Superintendent Fran Marek apologized to Remington Reimer after meeting with him and his attorney Thursday.

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The Joshua Independent School District has apologized to a high-school valedictorian whose microphone was switched off during a graduation ceremony when he deviated from prepared remarks.

Superintendent Fran Marek apologized to Remington Reimer after meeting with him and his attorney Thursday.

Marek released this statement on the Joshua ISD website:

On behalf of the school district, I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to Mr. Todd Reimer and Remington Reimer for any interpretation of a threat by Mr. Cochran in expressing his displeasure at a meeting on Friday morning between Mr. Todd Reimer and Mr. Cochran following Remington Reimer's valedictory address. The District has never intended to nor will take punitive action against Remington Reimer for deviating from the prior-reviewed speech. The District endorses Remington Reimer's appointment to the Naval Academy and wishes him success for all future endeavors in his naval career. District officials will ensure that district policy is followed at future graduation ceremonies.

Fran Marek, Superintendent
Joshua ISD

Reimer's microphone was switched off during the June 6 ceremony after he deviated from prepared remarks and began talking about his religious beliefs.

He also alleged that his principal threatened to contact the U.S. Naval Academy, where Reimer has been accepted, to complain about his bad character. But Marek said "the district has never intended to, nor will take, punitive action."

Reimer says he's thankful and knew the school district would support him.

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Stars Name Ruff as Head Coach

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Lindy Ruff is the new coach of the Dallas Stars, the team that clinched their only Stanley Cup championship on a goal he has always questioned.

Ruff was hired Friday by the Stars, 14 years after he joined thousands of Buffalo fans in the chant  of "No goal!" in the aftermath of Brett Hull's Cup-clinching shot late in the third overtime of Game 6 in the 1999 Stanley Cup finals.

"It's a long time ago," Ruff said after being introduced. "I've had some great memories. I've gotten past that. I'm a coach, I want to coach, and this is an unbelievable opportunity."

That was the Sabres' only Stanley Cup appearance under Ruff, in his second season as Buffalo's coach.

While the Stars celebrated the title, Ruff questioned whether the goal should have been allowed for Hull's skate being in the goalie's crease before having control of the puck.

Ruff joked Friday that when he first agreed to meet with

new Stars GM Jim Nill

about the job that his only stipulation was, "we can't meet in the crease."

It was 14 years ago Thursday that Game 6 ended in the early morning -- more than 15 minutes into the third overtime.

Ruff coached 15 seasons for the Buffalo Sabres before being fired in February. He was the NHL's longest active-serving coach with one team.

Ruff was the first significant hire for

Nill, the longtime Detroit Red Wings assistant GM who signed a five-year deal in April to replace the fired Joe Nieuwendyk.

Nill said when he started the search, the attributes that he was looking for in a coach included experience, credibility and knowledge.

"All these attributes were checked off," Nill said.

Two weeks after Nill was hired,

he decided not to renew the third-year option for coach Glen Gulutzan.

The Stars missed the playoffs for the fifth season in a row, the longest postseason drought in team history. They were 22-22-4 last season, last in the Pacific Division.

Since Ruff still had two seasons left on his contract with Buffalo, the Stars had to get permission from the Sabres to talk to the 53-year-old coach.

Ruff was the Sabres' winningest coach (571-432-162), but was fired after Buffalo got off to a 6-10-1 in this year's NHL lockout-shortened season. There had been 170 NHL coaching changes between his hiring in July 1997 and the time he was fired.

Under Ruff, the Sabres made the playoffs in each of his first four seasons and eight times overall. They made the Eastern Conference finals in 2006 and 2007.

As a player, Ruff was selected in the second round of the 1979 draft by the Sabres and made the team that year. He was later the Sabres' captain, playing for Buffalo until being traded to the New York Rangers in 1989.

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Three Boys Home Alone During Burglary Attempt

Scott Gordon, NBC News

Daniel Rodriguez, 12, was at his cousin's house when burglars broke in. The thieves were scared off when his cousin's mother came home.

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Three young boys were home alone in North Fort Worth playing video games when two masked men broke in on Thursday afternoon.

"We were playing games until I saw a shadow," 12-year-old Daniel Rodriguez said.

"I saw somebody with, like, a black bandana and yellow right here," 12-year-old Kevin Avila said.

Avila and his two cousins, Rodriguez and a 14-year-old, hid in a bedroom.

"I saw them, but they didn't see me," Avila said.

His mother happened to come home from work, unaware of what was going on inside.

"My mom came right in time," Avila said.

Without even knowing it, she apparently scared the burglars away.

"If I didn't show up on time, they would have been dead," Jessica Henderson said.

She called police.

"They got here in two minutes," she said. "Oh my God, it's crazy. You wouldn't think that somebody could come into your house with a freakin' mask on in broad daylight."

Three people were in custody Thursday evening and were being questioned, said Fort Worth police spokesman Sgt. Kelly Peel.

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Joshua ISD Apologizes to Valedictorian Over Speech

Ben Russell, NBC 5 News

Joshua Independent School District Superintendent Fran Marek apologized to Remington Reimer after meeting with him and his attorney Thursday.

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The Joshua Independent School District has apologized to a high-school valedictorian whose microphone was switched off during a graduation ceremony when he deviated from prepared remarks.

Superintendent Fran Marek apologized to Remington Reimer after meeting with him and his attorney Thursday.

Marek released this statement on the Joshua ISD website:

On behalf of the school district, I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to Mr. Todd Reimer and Remington Reimer for any interpretation of a threat by Mr. Cochran in expressing his displeasure at a meeting on Friday morning between Mr. Todd Reimer and Mr. Cochran following Remington Reimer's valedictory address. The District has never intended to nor will take punitive action against Remington Reimer for deviating from the prior-reviewed speech. The District endorses Remington Reimer's appointment to the Naval Academy and wishes him success for all future endeavors in his naval career. District officials will ensure that district policy is followed at future graduation ceremonies.

Fran Marek, Superintendent
Joshua ISD

Reimer's microphone was switched off during the June 6 ceremony after he deviated from prepared remarks and began talking about his religious beliefs.

He also alleged that his principal threatened to contact the U.S. Naval Academy, where Reimer has been accepted, to complain about his bad character. But Marek said "the district has never intended to, nor will take, punitive action."

Reimer says he's thankful and knew the school district would support him.

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Man Arrested in Connection With UTA Threat

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Man Arrested in Connection With UTA Threat

Dallas man at center of University of Texas at Arlington gun scare arrested by Dallas police.

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The campus at the University of Texas at Arlington was closed and classes were canceled Wednesday morning due to reports of an armed man headed toward the school.

Dallas police said the incident began when a former UTA student threatened to harm himself with a semi-automatic gun. UTA spokeswoman Kristin Sullivan says the student was last enrolled in 2008 with an undeclared major.

DPD officials said the man barricaded himself in an apartment. While officers searched for the man, police notified UTA officials about the search. Based on that report, UTA took security actions.

"UT Arlington takes these kind of threats very seriously which is why we closed the campus this morning and canceled classes until further notification," Sullivan said.

A UTA emergency alert shortly before 4:30 a.m. Wednesday indicated the campus was closed. Classes and other events were canceled as well.

"There is no imminent threat, however, as a precaution, we're going to make sure the campus is absolutely secure and safe. That's the most important thing," Sullivan said.

At 7:30 a.m., a message posted to the MavAlert Emergency Notifications page on the UTA web site stated the following:

"The UT Arlington campus is closed, and classes, events and summer camps are canceled until further notice as police continue to investigate a report of a man traveling to campus with a gun. Anyone on campus should remain inside. No one should travel to campus."

An alert sent on the MavAlert Emergency Notifications page on the UTA web site stated the campus was reopened around 9:29 a.m. and scheduled events, including classes, would resume at noon.

Additionally, the school has asked for all employees to report to campus as soon as possible.

Sullivan said several thousand people typically would be on campus for summer classes, camps and other activities. UTA's spring enrollment was nearly 34,000 students.

Early Confusion on Threat Details

The alert began as text posted to the school's web site at 4:28 a.m., which stated the following:

"Unconfirmed report Dallas PD informed UTA PD subj. w/ gun may be en-route to UTA campus. If on campus stay indoors/ off campus stay away until further notice."

UTA police said that Dallas police located the individual they believed was possibly headed to the campus. UTA police said that individual was inside an apartment in Dallas but was refusing to come out.

NBC 5 contacted the Dallas Police Department to confirm this information, but dispatch officers said they were unaware of any barricaded subject. The police department later confirmed the information about a man barricaded inside an apartment during a press conference around 11 a.m.

Previously, the university told NBC 5 they planned to release an "all clear" alert. However, an update at 6:17 a.m. stated the following:

"Police continue to investigate unconfirmed reports of a man suspected of traveling to campus with a gun. Stay away from campus or remain indoors until further notified."

NBC 5 's Keaton Fox and Jeff Smith contributed to this report.

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Man Smuggles 7 Snakes in His Jacket

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A Tyler snake expert pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to smuggling seven Peruvian snakes into the United States by concealing them underneath his jacket.

William Lamar, 63, was caught with the snakes in August at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. He had purchased the snakes at a market in Lima, Peru, and flew with them in his jacket to Miami and then to DFW, where a Transportation Security Administration officer found them while Lamar was trying to board a commuter flight to Tyler.

The snakes were all small, about six inches long, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Lamar transported them in plastic cases in his jacket.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, five of the snakes were venomous. The five Peruvian pit vipers included three Bothrops barnetti and two Bothrops pictus. The other two snakes were an Oxyrhopus fitzingeri and a Pseudalsophis elegans.

Lamar is a partial owner of Colorado-based ecotourism company Green Tracks, according to a representative who answered the phone at the company's listed phone number Tuesday. His biography on the company website states that Lamar also conducts research on reptiles and amphibians for the University of Texas at Tyler.

A university spokesperson confirmed Tuesday that Lamar has been an adjunct professor there but was not able to confirm his current status with the school.

Lamar is the author of at least three books on snakes and reptiles and has been a speaker at an event for the Austin Herpetological Society, among other events in that field.

According to several articles posted online, Lamar has spent decades doing research in the Amazon and leading tours in the region.

According to U.S. Attorney John M. Bales, Lamar stated in an Eastern District of Texas courtroom that he knew he was violating the law by transporting the snakes in his jacket without proper authorization.

Lamar was not available for comment Tuesday.

He could face up to five years in prison at sentencing, according to the U.S. Attorney's office. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

More Dallas-Fort Worth-Area Stories:

Son Remembers Youth Pastor Killed in Crash
Dating Service Delivers Duds, Not Dreams: Former Employee
90,000 Ladybugs Released in Valley Ranch
City Funds New Home After 911 Calls Went Unanswered

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Dallas Officer Arrested on Sexual Assault Charge

Edward Antunez's mugshot, inset.

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A Dallas police officer surrendered to Mesquite police Tuesday on a charge of sexual assault, Mesquite police say.

Mesquite police said Edward Antunez has been accused of an assault that took place on March 13, 2013.

Officials said the victim was someone one the officer knew, but refused to release any further details about the case.

"Because this involves a sexual assault charge, we will not be releasing any further details on this case," Mesquite police said in a news release.

The officer posted bond and was released.

Dallas police said Antunez is on administrative leave while the Dallas Police Department's Internal Affairs Division conducts an investigation.

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City Funds New Home After 911 Calls Went Unanswered

Randy McIlwain, NBC 5 News

A Dallas home in the 1900 block of Berwick Avenie in south Oak Cliff that burned while family and neighbors said they tried and failed several times to reach 911 on July 4, 2012 has been rebuilt.

Berwick Avenue Home Gutted by Fire Rebuilt

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The city of Dallas has never acknowledged fault in the July 4, 2012, fire that destroyed Dora Fuller's home on 1906 Berwick Avenue in South Dallas, but the city has made her whole again.

On Tuesday, Fuller, flanked by City Councilman Dwaine Carraway, firefighters and representatives of Dallas' Housing and Community Services Department, received the keys to her new home.

The home was built with grant money through Housing and Community Services and includes a forgivable loan for Fuller who does not owe a dime for the house as long as she lives there.

Fire destroyed Fuller's home last year after she and her neighbors repeatedly called 911 for help, only to get no answer or busy signals.  The delay in reaching emergency services contributed to the home being a total loss.

When firefighters were eventually dispatched, it took them only 94 seconds to reach Fuller's home from the nearby fire station.

The devastation though did shine a light on a program that's been part of Dallas' government since the 1980's, where grant money from Housing and Community Services is used to restore or rebuild homes.

All that's needed to qualify for the program is to be 62-years-old, or disabled, and meet qualifications for income status.

Fuller was walked through the process step-by-step and was elated as she shook the keys to her house on Tuesday.

She said the new home doesn't replace the memories of the family home that had been hers for 30 years, but it's a fresh start in her old neighborhood.

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Carrollton Chiropractor Accused of Sexual Assault

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Another North Texas chiropractor has been accused of sexually assaulting a patient.

Chiropractor Scott Tan Viet Lai, who was arrested Friday, is accused of assaulting a female patient during a June 11 office visit.

According to a redacted arrest affidavit released Monday, the woman arrived at Lai's office for her third appointment after a car crash. She had been seeing Lai for back and neck pains.

When she arrived, she met the doctor in the parking lot, and the two walked into the office together at about 11 a.m.

The woman told police that she noticed Lai locked the door behind them after they entered and thought it was unusual.

During the exam, Lai requested she wear a gown, but she refused, according to the affidavit. During the treatment, he began massaging her back and said he needed to pull her shorts down to provide treatment to a problem area.

In the affidavit, the woman said she started to feel uncomfortable but complied because she trusted the doctor.

The woman then told police that he said he needed to adjust her tail bone and asked her to roll over onto her back. The woman said Lai then grabbed her shorts and pulled them off, saying he needed to get to the tail bone area. She said she then felt the man's hands near and inside her genitalia. The woman said she asked him what he was doing and he replied that he was putting pressure on her tail bone.

In the affidavit, the woman then told police that Lai put his head next to her ear and whispered, "Do you want me to help you relax?"

The woman told police she then pushed him away and told him that she did not think he was doing what he was supposed to do. The woman told police she was then scared for her well-being and searched for a place to run after asking to use the bathroom. Finding no easily available exit, the woman said she returned to the doctor's office to sign some papers before she was allowed to leave by the front door.

According to the affidavit, the woman said that Lai told her that she should have known what the procedure would be because she is studying to be a nurse.

(The redacted arrest affidavit can be read here and recounts the woman's allegations in greater detail.)

The woman went to a hospital emergency room, where she reported the incident and police were called.

Police have not revealed the woman's age.

Lai practices at SSC Chiropractic at 1212 N. Josey Lane and his web site lists a second location on Pioneer Parkway in Arlington. According to his web site, his clinic opened in 2002 and specifically reaches out to Vietnamese patients.

The clinic was closed Monday and no one answered the phone.

Lai is being held in the Carrollton Municipal Jail on a $100,000 bond. He has been charged with sexual assault, a second-degree felony.

In April, McKinney chiropractor Dr. David Russell was sentenced to 23 years in prison after he was convicted of sexually assaulting several of his patients, including children.

NBC 5's Brian Scott contributed to this report.

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Names Released in Crash That Killed 4

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The Tarrant County Sheriff's Office on Monday afternoon released the names of the 16 people involved in a car crash that killed four pedestrians late Saturday night.

Investigators have not released details about how the crash occurred. Sheriff's office officials said the investigation is ongoing.

Tarrant County sheriff's spokesman Terry Grisham said it has been a particularly difficult crash to investigate because of how many people were involved.

"We have many people who were actively involved in this accident and, tragically, four of them can't speak with us. They're deceased," he said. "We want to find who's responsible, both at the scene and away from the scene, if such people exist. And we want to bring those people to justice if, in fact, this is a criminal act."

The sheriff's office have said that Breanna Mitchell, 24, of Lillian, was stopped along the 1500 block of Burleson-Retta Road in a disabled sport utility vehicle. At some point, Brian Jennings, 43-year-old Burleson youth minister, happened upon Mitchell and stopped his white pickup truck to help.

Jennings was joined by Hollie Boyles, 42, and Shelby Boyles, 21, a mother and daughter who lived nearby.

What exactly happened next is a mystery, but Mitchell, Jennings and the Boyles, all pedestrians, were struck and killed in a multi-vehicle crash that involved Jennings' white truck, a red Volkswagen and a red pickup truck driven by 17-year-old Ethan Couch, officials with the Tarrant County Sheriff's Department said Monday afternoon.

Two children, Lucas McConnell, 12, and Isaiah McLaughlin, 13, were inside Jennings' truck.

Ashlyn Evans, 18, was driving the Volkswagen. Peyton Alan, 14, was a passenger in her car. Both are of Burleson.

Seven teenagers were inside Couch's truck or in the truck bed: Garrett Ballard, 16; Avery Rich, 19; and Starr Teague, Christian Victoria, Soliman Mohmand, Sergio Molina and Jacob Goodsell, 15.

The four pedestrians were declared deceased at the scene. Nine of the other 12 people involved, whose names and conditions have not been specified, were hospitalized after the crash.

Several of the teens riding in the red pickup truck were friends on Facebook and, according to their Facebook pages, attended Keller Central High School.

Funeral services for Jennings will be held Wednesday at 3 p.m. at Venue 510 at 510 Wilshire Blvd. in Burleson, a family representative said.

Editor's Note: The Tarrant County Sheriff's Office issued a correction to its news release Monday to correct the spelling of Brian Jennings' first name, as well as correct the driver of the red Volkswagen's last name from Peyton to Evans. All corrections are reflected in the article above.

NBC 5's Ben Russell contributed to this report.

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